Tracking computer system configuration changes with corresponding message responses

ABSTRACT

Under the present invention, when a configuration change for a computer system is monitored and a message corresponding thereto is issued, a response to the message will be observed. Thereafter, the configuration change, the message and the response will be logged. In logging this information, the respective times and identities of corresponding users will be stored together. Thus, if an error condition results from the configuration change, a supervisor or the like will be able to access the log file and see (among other things): (1) the configuration change that caused the error condition; (2) the identity of the user who made it; and (3) the user&#39;s response to the corresponding message that was provided.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to configuration management.Specifically, the present invention provides a method, system andprogram product for tracking computer system configuration changes withcorresponding message responses.

2. Related Art

Most middleware systems today provide administrative functions and userinterfaces to allow system administrators to configure and managedevelopment and production level systems. A key role of theadministrators is to get the systems configured quickly and ensure thatthey remain operational and available on a nearly absolute 24/7 basis.System downtime for some businesses can be critical, resulting inmillions of dollars of revenue lost per hour or even minutes. This putsenormous pressure on administrators to take appropriate but prudentactions when maintaining these systems. If a system does go down(catastrophic or otherwise), typically there is extensive causalanalysis done to determine the failure points, often involvingsupervisory personnel of the administrators responsible. Administratorsare held highly accountable for the actions they take (or do not take)in keeping their systems available.

To aid in problem prevention, most software systems provide mechanismsto administrators to warn of potential problems or error conditions.Such mechanisms typically come in the form of warning messages andinformational messages. As autonomic computing advances, these warningsystems will become increasingly advanced, all to the benefit of theadministrators. However, if administrators fail to heed or act on thewarnings or information, catastrophic failures can still occur. In someof these instances, supervisory personnel can check system logs to seewhat warning and information messages were issued. Unfortunately, nocurrent system provides direct one-to-one tracking of the responses orfollow-up actions by the administrators to the messages. This makes isextremely difficult for the supervisory personnel to determine why thefailures were caused, who was responsible, and whether the failures wereavoidable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In general, the present invention provides a method, system and programproduct for tracking computer system configuration changes withcorresponding message responses. Specifically, the present inventionallows configuration changes to be tracked on a one-to-one basis withany corresponding messages and associated responses so that the causesand avoidability of error conditions can be readily determined. To thisextent, under the present invention, when a configuration change for acomputer system is monitored and a message corresponding thereto isissued, a response to the message will be observed. Thereafter, theconfiguration change, the message and the response will be logged. Inlogging this information, the respective times and identities ofcorresponding users will be stored together. Thus, if an error conditionresults from the configuration change, a supervisor or the like will beable to access the log file and see (among other things): (1) theconfiguration changes that may have caused the error condition; (2) theidentity of the user who made it; and (3) the user's response to thecorresponding message that was provided.

A first aspect of the present invention provides a method for trackingcomputer system configuration changes with corresponding messageresponses, comprising: monitoring a configuration change for a computersystem; observing a response to a message provided pursuant to theconfiguration change; and storing the configuration change with themessage and the response in a log file.

A second aspect of the present invention provides a system for trackingcomputer system configuration changes with corresponding messageresponses, comprising: a configuration system for monitoring aconfiguration change for a computer system; a message response systemfor observing a response to a message provided pursuant to theconfiguration change; and a log system for storing the configurationchange with the message and the response in a log file.

A third aspect of the present invention provides a program productstored on a computer readable medium for tracking computer systemconfiguration changes with corresponding message responses, the computerreadable medium comprising program code for performing the followingsteps: monitoring a configuration change for a computer system;observing a response to a message provided pursuant to the configurationchange; and storing the configuration change with the message and theresponse in a log file.

A fourth aspect of the present invention provides a method for deployingan application for tracking computer system configuration changes withcorresponding message responses, comprising: providing a computerinfrastructure being operable to: monitor a configuration change for acomputer system; observe a response to a message provided pursuant tothe configuration change; and store the configuration change with themessage and the response in a log file.

A fifth aspect of the present invention provides computer softwareembodied in a propagated signal for tracking computer systemconfiguration changes with corresponding message responses, the computersoftware comprising instructions to cause a computer system to performthe following functions: monitor a configuration change for a computersystem; observe a response to a message provided pursuant to theconfiguration change; and store the configuration change with themessage and the response in a log file.

A sixth aspect of the present invention provides a business method fortracking computer system configuration changes with correspondingmessage responses.

A seventh aspect of the present invention provides a system to correlateerror conditions with probable configuration causes.

An eighth aspect of the present invention provides a system to determineif actual configuration changes were within a set of possibleconfiguration issues composed by the system that correlated the errorconditions with the probable configuration changes and which may haveresulted in those error conditions.

A ninth aspect of the present invention provides a system that tracksusers who made configuration issues which were within a set of possibleconfiguration issues composed by the system which correlated the errorconditions with the probably configuration changes which may haveresulted in those error conditions.

A tenth aspect of the present invention provides a system that is ableto retrieve from its logs any warning or informational messagesdisplayed to the user when they made configuration changes which werewithin a set of possible configuration issues composed by the systemwhich correlated the error conditions with the probable configurationchanges which may have resulted in those error conditions.

An eleventh aspect of the present invention provides a system that candisplay to a supervisor the configuration changes, the user who made thechanges, the time the user made the changes, and informational orwarning messages that user was shown which are retrieved from the systemlogs; where the configuration changes were within a set of possibleconfiguration issues composed by the system which correlated the errorconditions with the probable configuration changes which may haveresulted in those error conditions.

Therefore, the present invention provides a method, system and programproduct for tracking computer system configuration changes withcorresponding message responses.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative system for tracking computer systemconfiguration changes with corresponding message responses according tothe present invention.

FIG. 2 shows an illustrative message according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows an illustrative logging scheme according to the presentinvention.

It is noted that the drawings of the invention are not to scale. Thedrawings are intended to depict only typical aspects of the invention,and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope of theinvention. In the drawings, like numbering represents like elementsbetween the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

As indicated above, the present invention provides a method, system andprogram product for tracking computer system configuration changes withcorresponding message responses. Specifically, the present inventionallows configuration changes to be tracked on a one-to-one basis withany corresponding messages and associated responses so that the causesand avoidability of error conditions can be readily determined. To thisextent, under the present invention, when a configuration change for acomputer system is monitored and a message corresponding thereto isissued, a response to the message will be observed. Thereafter, theconfiguration change, the message and the response will be logged. Inlogging this information, the respective times and identities ofcorresponding users will be stored together. Thus, if an error conditionresults from the configuration change, a supervisor or the like will beable to access the log file and see (among other things): (1) theconfiguration change that caused the error condition; (2) the identityof the user who made it; and (3) the user's response to thecorresponding message that was provided.

As used herein, the term “message” is intended to refer to any type ofmessage that can be provided pursuant to a configuration change. Thus,the term message is intended to encompass both warning and informationalmessages. In addition, the term “configuration change” is intended tomean any type of configuration change that can be made to a computersystem and/or computer network.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a system 10 for tracking computer systemconfiguration changes with corresponding message responses according tothe present invention is shown. As depicted, system 10 includes acomputer infrastructure 12, which comprises a computer system 14. Aswill be further described below, tracking system 40 will be used totrack configuration changes made by administrator 16 on a one-to-onebasis with resulting messages and associated responses. In theillustrative embodiment shown in FIG. 1, tracking system 40 is shownloaded on the same computer system 14 for which administrator 16 willmake configuration changes. However, this need not be the case. Forexample, administrator 16 could make changes to another computer system(not shown) that is monitored by tracking system 40. Such a computersystem may or may not be contained within the same computerinfrastructure as the computer system on which tracking system 40 isloaded. To this extent, as will be further described below, trackingsystem 40, computer system 14 and/or computer infrastructure 12 candeployed and/or managed by a third party service provider that istracking configuration changes and corresponding messages for customers.In such an embodiment, tracking system 40 could track configurationchanges and corresponding messages for a plurality of other computers.That is, tracking system 40 is not limited to performing such functionsfor a single computer system at a time. In any event, tracking system 40can be part of or work in conjunction with any existing system thatmonitors configuration changes and provides messages. Moreover, computersystem 14 is intended to represent any type of computer system capableof carrying out the teachings of the present invention. Examples includea laptop computer, a desktop computer, a workstation, a handheld device,etc.

It should be understood that in the event two or more computer systemsare provided, such computer systems could communicate directly, or overa network (e.g., the Internet, a wide area network (WAN), a local areanetwork (LAN), a virtual private network (VPN), etc. In the case of thelatter, communication between the computer systems could occur via anycombination of various types of communications links. For example, thecommunication links can comprise addressable connections that mayutilize any combination of wired and/or wireless transmission methods.Where communications occur via the Internet, connectivity could beprovided by conventional TCP/IP sockets-based protocol, and an Internetservice provider could be used to establish connectivity to theInternet.

In any event, computer system 14 is shown including a processing unit20, a memory 22, a bus 24, and input/output (I/O) interfaces 26.Further, computer system 14 is shown in communication with external I/Odevices/resources 28 and storage system 30. In general, processing unit20 executes computer program code, such as tracking system 40, which isstored in memory 22 and/or storage system 30. While executing computerprogram code, processing unit 20 can read and/or write data, to/frommemory 22, storage system 30, and/or I/O interfaces 26. Bus 24 providesa communication link between each of the components in computer system14. External devices 28 can comprise any devices (e.g., keyboard,pointing device, display, etc.) that enable a user to interact withcomputer system 14 and/or any devices (e.g., network card, modem, etc.)that enable computer system 14 to communicate with one or more othercomputing devices.

Computer infrastructure 12 is only illustrative of various types ofcomputer infrastructures for implementing the invention. For example, inone embodiment, computer infrastructure 12 comprises two or morecomputing devices (e.g., a server cluster) that communicate over anetwork to perform the various process steps of the invention. Moreover,computer system 14 is only representative of various possible computerinfrastructures that can include numerous combinations of hardware. Tothis extent, in other embodiments, computer system 14 can comprise anyspecific purpose computing article of manufacture comprising hardwareand/or computer program code for performing specific functions, anycomputing article of manufacture that comprises a combination ofspecific purpose and general purpose hardware/software, or the like. Ineach case, the program code and hardware can be created using standardprogramming and engineering techniques, respectively. Moreover,processing unit 20 may comprise a single processing unit, or bedistributed across one or more processing units in one or morelocations, e.g., on a client and server. Similarly, memory 22 and/orstorage system 30 can comprise any combination of various types of datastorage and/or transmission media that reside at one or more physicallocations. Further, I/O interfaces 26 can comprise any system forexchanging information with one or more external devices 28. Stillfurther, it is understood that one or more additional components (e.g.,system software, math co-processing unit, etc.) not shown in FIG. 1 canbe included in computer system 14. However, if computer system 14comprises a handheld device or the like, it is understood that one ormore external devices 28 (e.g., a display) and/or storage system(s) 30could be contained within computer system 14, not externally as shown.

Storage system 30 can be any type of system (e.g., a database) capableof providing storage for information under the present invention. Suchinformation can include, for example, log files, etc. To this extent,storage system 30 could include one or more storage devices, such as amagnetic disk drive or an optical disk drive. In another embodiment,storage system 30 includes data distributed across, for example, a localarea network (LAN), wide area network (WAN) or a storage area network(SAN) (not shown). Although not shown, additional components, such ascache memory, communication systems, system software, etc., may beincorporated into computer system 14.

Shown in memory 22 of computer system 14 is tracking system 40, whichincludes configuration system 42, message issuance system 44, messageresponse system 46, log system 48, error condition system 50, querysystem 51, and log access system 52. Operation of each of these systemsis discussed further below. However, it is understood that some of thevarious systems shown in FIG. 1 can be implemented independently,combined, and/or stored in memory for one or more separate computerssystems that communicate over a network. Further, it is understood thatsome of the systems/functionality may not be implemented and/oradditional systems/functionality may be included as part of the presentinvention. Still yet, it is understood that the depiction of thesesystems shown in FIG. 1 is illustrative only and that the samefunctionality could be achieved with a different configuration. That is,the functionality of these systems could be combined into fewer systems,or broken down into additional systems.

Under the present invention, tracking system 40 will track configurationchanges made by administrator 16 on a one-to-one basis with anyresulting messages that are issued and administrator 16's responsesthereto. Assume in an illustrative embodiment that administrator 16adjusted the memory allocation for computer system 14. Under the presentinvention the configuration change would be detected/monitored byconfiguration system 42. The monitoring of the configuration change canoccur in any known means. For example, configuration system 42 could beprogrammed to detect any configuration changes made by administrator 16or the like. Alternatively, configuration system 42 could be programmedto receive notifications of configuration changes. In any event, whenthe configuration change is monitored, message issuance system 44 willdisplay any corresponding messages to administrator 16. In oneembodiment, message issuance system 44 could be programmed to generateand display each message based on the proposed configuration change. Inanother embodiment, memory 22 or storage system 30 could contain a“library” of messages that should be displayed in response to certainconfiguration changes. In any event, assume that when the memoryallocation is changed, message issuance system 44 displays a messageindicating that a “Memory Shortage May Occur.”

Referring to FIG. 2, an illustration of such a message 60 is shown. Asdepicted, message 60 informs administrator 16 (FIG. 1) of a possibleerror condition 62 that may be caused should he/she proceed with theconfiguration change. Administrator 16 can accept the warning byselecting button 64A at which time the configuration change will not bemade. However, administrator 16 can also chose to ignore the warning byselecting button 64B at which time the configuration change will be madeirrespective of the warning. Any response issued by administrator 16will be received by message response system 46.

Assume in this example that administrator 16 selected button 64B andignored the warning. Referring back to FIG. 1, this response to message60 (FIG. 2) would be observed or received by message response system 46and the configuration change would be made. Under the present invention,the configuration change, message 60 and the response made byadministrator 16 would be stored together in a log file by log system48. This typically involves storing the time for each, as well as anidentity of administrator 16.

Referring to FIG. 3, an illustrative logging operation as performed bylog system 48 is more clearly shown. Specifically, FIG. 3 shows anillustrative log file 70 for computer system 14 based on the aboveseries of activities. As can be seen at time 12:01:03 PM on Jan. 1,2005, configuration system 42 (FIG. 1) monitored an attempt byAdministrator “A” (i.e., administrator 16 of FIG. 1) to change thememory allocation of computer system 14. At time 12:01:10 PM on Jan. 1,2005, message issuance system 44 (FIG. 1) displayed warning message “Z.”Then, at time 12:01:15 PM on Jan. 1, 2005, message response system 46observed that Administrator “A” ignored warning message “Z.” Theseactivities were associated with one another and stored in log file 70 bylog system 48 (FIG. 1).

Referring back to FIG. 1, assume now that the configuration change madeby administrator 16 actually caused a memory shortage to occur. Thiserror condition would be detected by error condition system 50. Underthe present invention, error conditions can be detected automatically byerror condition system 50 (e.g., via detection of an error message), orthey could be manually identified to error condition system 50 basedupon observations, end-user input or the like. When the error conditionis observed, log system 48 can optionally associate and store the samein log file 70 (FIG. 3) (i.e., along with the configuration change,display of warning message “Z” and ignoring of warning message “Z”).

In any event, assume that upon occurrence of the error condition,supervisor 18 wishes to know who was responsible. Supervisor 18 canselect the error conditions from a set (e.g., a list) of possible errorconditions. Query system 51 will then automatically generate a query todetermine whether any configuration changes (such as the above) lead tothe error condition. To this extent, each possible error condition isassociated (e.g., in storage unit 30) with one or more configurationchanges that may have caused that error condition. Query system 51 willthen find the union of possible configuration changes that would havecaused this error condition and the actual configuration changes thatoccurred. Each configuration change that could cause an error conditionwill also have an associated message. Accordingly, supervisor 18 can bepresented with a list of the possible configuration changes that causedthe error condition, who made the change, the time of the change, andthe messages that were ignored.

Along similar lines, the present invention also allows supervisor 18 toutilize log access system 52 to access log file 70 and view the seriesof events that unfolded. In so doing, supervisor 18 will easily be ableto see who made the configuration change and who ignored the warningmessage. It could be the case that the individual making theconfiguration change was different that the one who ignored the warningmessage, in which case both would be partially to blame. Using the aboveexample, supervisor 18 will access log file 70 and note thatAdministrator “A” proposed a configuration change, was presented withwarning message “Z” and chose to ignore it. As such, supervisor 18 willknow exactly who was to blame for the memory shortage. Thus, the presentinvention creates an error or configuration “object” that provides amapping of error conditions to activities leading up thereto.

ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES

Shown below are two additional illustrative examples according to thepresent invention.

Administrator “A” adjusts the timeouts in server 1 to an unordinarylarge size for specific requests to server 2. The system warnsAdministrator “A” that this could tie up excess resources in server 1 ifanything should happen to server 2 causing performance degradation andpossibly unrecoverable errors. Server 2 then has a bug, causingexcessively slow performance and response times. The system comes to ahalt as server 1 dies because of resource exhaustion (out of threads,memory, etc) and users cannot access the server. After the system hasrecovered, Administrator “A's” supervisor tries to track down who madethese changes as well as some proof as to whether they knew thesechanges would cause problems. The logs clearly show that not only didAdministrator “A” make the timeout changes, he accepted the message thatstated that this may cause performance degradation in server 1.

Administrator “B” is adjusting the settings of server 2. While doing so,Administrator “B” created a new listening transport on port 8000. Whencreating this listener, the system displayed a message stating thatcommitting this action would create a new listener for users to accessthis system on. Administrator “B” clicked “Ignore” and the server savedthe configuration and started up the listener. Weeks later, server 2 wasfound to have been accessed by an unauthorized user on port 8000.Administrator “B's” supervisor was able to find out through the logsthat no only did Administrator “B” create this new listener, he wasinformed again that the action he took would create a new listener. Theboss could then be certain that Administrator “B” did not “accidentally”create this hole in the system unknowingly.

While shown and described herein as a method and system for trackingcomputer system configuration changes with corresponding messageresponses, it is understood that the invention further provides variousalternative embodiments. For example, in one embodiment, the inventionprovides a computer-readable medium that includes computer program codeto enable a computer infrastructure to analyze demographical factors ofa computer system to address error conditions. To this extent, thecomputer-readable medium includes program code that implements each ofthe various process steps of the invention. It is understood that theterm “computer-readable medium” comprises one or more of any type ofphysical embodiment of the program code. In particular, thecomputer-readable medium can comprise program code embodied on one ormore portable storage articles of manufacture (e.g., a compact disc, amagnetic disk, a tape, etc.), on one or more data storage portions of acomputing device, such as memory 22 (FIG. 1) and/or storage system 30(FIG. 1) (e.g., a fixed disk, a read-only memory, a random accessmemory, a cache memory, etc.), and/or as a data signal (e.g., apropagated signal) traveling over a network (e.g., during awired/wireless electronic distribution of the program code).

In another embodiment, the invention provides a business method thatperforms the process steps of the invention on a subscription,advertising, and/or fee basis. That is, a service provider, such as anInternet Service Provider, could offer to track computer systemconfiguration changes with corresponding message responses as describedabove. In this case, the service provider can create, maintain, support,etc., a computer infrastructure, such as computer infrastructure 12(FIG. 1) that performs the process steps of the invention for one ormore customers. In return, the service provider can receive payment fromthe customer(s) under a subscription and/or fee agreement and/or theservice provider can receive payment from the sale of advertisingcontent to one or more third parties.

In still another embodiment, the invention provides a method fortracking computer system configuration changes with correspondingmessage responses. In this case, a computer infrastructure, such ascomputer infrastructure 12 (FIG. 1), can be provided and one or moresystems for performing the process steps of the invention can beobtained (e.g., created, purchased, used, modified, etc.) and deployedto the computer infrastructure. To this extent, the deployment of asystem can comprise one or more of (1) installing program code on acomputing device, such as computer system 14 (FIG. 1), from acomputer-readable medium; (2) adding one or more computing devices tothe computer infrastructure; and (3) incorporating and/or modifying oneor more existing systems of the computer infrastructure to enable thecomputer infrastructure to perform the process steps of the invention.

As used herein, it is understood that the terms “program code” and“computer program code” are synonymous and mean any expression, in anylanguage, code or notation, of a set of instructions intended to cause acomputing device having an information processing capability to performa particular function either directly or after either or both of thefollowing: (a) conversion to another language, code or notation; and/or(b) reproduction in a different material form. To this extent, programcode can be embodied as one or more of: an application/software program,component software/a library of functions, an operating system, a basicI/O system/driver for a particular computing and/or I/O device, and thelike.

The foregoing description of various aspects of the invention has beenpresented for purposes of illustration and description. It is notintended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise formdisclosed, and obviously, many modifications and variations arepossible. Such modifications and variations that may be apparent to aperson skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scopeof the invention as defined by the accompanying claims.

We claim:
 1. A method for tracking computer system configuration changeswith corresponding message responses, comprising: at a change trackingcomputer system: monitoring a plurality of computer systems forconfiguration changes; detecting initiation of a configuration changefor a computer system of the monitored plurality of computer systems;issuing a message selected from a database comprising a library ofconfiguration change messages for the plurality of computer systemsbased upon the configuration change in response to detecting theinitiation of the configuration change, wherein the selected messagewarns of a potential error condition due to the configuration changebeing issued from the computer system and requires a response, whereinthe response requires choosing to accept the message or ignore themessage, wherein accepting the message cancels the configuration changeand ignoring the message allows the configuration change; observing theresponse to the selected message; storing the configuration change withthe selected message and the response in a log file within the database;detecting that an error condition with the computer system has occurred;querying the database in response to detecting the error condition todetermine configuration changes identified within the database aspossible causes of the detected error condition; and determining whetherthe configuration change is one of the determined configuration changesidentified within the database as possible causes of the detected errorcondition.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: storing thepotential error condition with the configuration change, the selectedmessage and the response in the log file within the database.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the storing step comprises storing a time ofthe configuration change, a time of the message and a time of theresponse along with an identity of a user making the configurationchange and an identity of a user issuing the response to the message inthe log file.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising accessing thelog file after the error condition in the computer system is detected todetermine an identity of a user making the configuration change andissuing the response to the warning message.
 5. The method of claim 4,further comprising displaying the configuration changes identifiedwithin the database as possible causes of the detected error condition,wherein the configuration changes are displayed with identities of userswho made the configuration changes and responses to any messages thatwere provided pursuant to the configuration changes.
 6. The method ofclaim 2, where the potential error condition, the configuration change,the selected message, and the response stored in the log file within thedatabase comprise a series of events leading up to the error conditionand where storing the potential error condition with the configurationchange, the selected message and the response in the log file within thedatabase comprises creating an error object within the database thatmaps the error condition to the series of events leading up to the errorcondition.
 7. A system, comprising at least one computer device, fortracking computer system configuration changes with correspondingmessage responses, comprising: a database comprising a library ofconfiguration change messages for a plurality of computer systems; and aprocessor programmed to: monitor the plurality of computer systems forconfiguration changes; detect initiation of a configuration change for acomputer system of the monitored plurality of computer systems; issue amessage selected from the database based upon the configuration changein response to detecting the initiation of the configuration change,wherein the selected message warns of a potential error condition due tothe configuration change being issued from the computer system andrequires a response, wherein the response requires choosing to acceptthe message or ignore the message, wherein accepting the message cancelsthe configuration change and ignoring the message allows theconfiguration change; observe the response to the selected message;store the configuration change with the selected message and theresponse in a log file within the database; detect that an errorcondition with the computer system has occurred; query the database inresponse to detecting the error condition to determine configurationchanges identified within the database as possible causes of thedetected error condition; and determine whether the configuration changeis one of the determined configuration changes identified within thedatabase as possible causes of the detected error condition.
 8. Thesystem of claim 7, where the processor is further programmed to storethe potential error condition with the configuration change, theselected message and the response in the log file within the database.9. The system of claim 7, where the processor is further programmed tostore a time of the configuration change, a time of the message and atime of the response along with an identity of a user making theconfiguration change and an identity of a user issuing the response tothe message in the log file.
 10. The system of claim 7, where theprocessor is further programmed to: present a set of possibleconfiguration changes that may have caused the error condition; andaccess the log file after the error condition in the computer system isdetected to determine an identity of a user making the configurationchange and issuing the response to the message.
 11. The system of claim10, where the processor is further programmed to display theconfiguration changes identified within the database as possible causesof the detected error condition, wherein the configuration changes aredisplayed with identities of users who made the configuration changesand responses to any messages that were provided pursuant to theconfiguration changes.
 12. The system of claim 8, where the potentialerror condition, the configuration change, the selected message, and theresponse stored in the log file within the database comprise a series ofevents leading up to the error condition and where, in being programmedto store the potential error condition with the configuration change,the selected message and the response in the log file within thedatabase, the processor is programmed to create an error object withinthe database that maps the error condition to the series of eventsleading up to the error condition.
 13. A program product stored on anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium for tracking computersystem configuration changes with corresponding message responses, thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising program codethat, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to: monitor aplurality of computer systems for configuration changes; detectinitiation of a configuration change for a computer system of themonitored plurality of computer systems; issue a message selected from adatabase comprising a library of configuration change messages for theplurality of computer systems based upon the configuration change inresponse to detecting the initiation of the configuration change,wherein the selected message warns of a potential error condition due tothe configuration change being stored within a database comprising alibrary of configuration change messages and issued from the computersystem and requires a response, wherein the response requires choosingto accept the message or ignore the message, wherein accepting themessage cancels the configuration change and ignoring the message allowsthe configuration change; observe the response to the selected message;store the configuration change with the selected message and theresponse in a log file within the database; detect that an errorcondition with the computer system has occurred; query the database inresponse to detecting the error condition to determine configurationchanges identified within the database as possible causes of thedetected error condition; and determine whether the configuration changeis one of the determined configuration changes identified within thedatabase as possible causes of the detected error condition.
 14. Theprogram product of claim 13, wherein the non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium further comprises program code that,when executed by the computer, causes the computer to: store thepotential error condition with the configuration change, the selectedmessage and the response in the log file within the database.
 15. Theprogram product of claim 13, wherein the program code that, whenexecuted by the computer, causes the computer to store the configurationchange with the selected message and the response in a log file withinthe database comprises program code that, when executed by the computer,causes the computer to store a time of the configuration change, a timeof the message and a time of the response along with an identity of auser making the configuration change and an identity of a user issuingthe response to the message in the log file.
 16. The program product ofclaim 13, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumfurther comprises program code that, when executed by the computer,causes the computer to: present a set of possible configuration changesidentified within the database as possible causes of the detected errorcondition; and access the log file after the error condition in thecomputer system is detected to determine an identity of a user makingthe configuration change and issuing the response to the warningmessage.
 17. The program product of claim 16, wherein the non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium further comprises program code that,when executed by the computer, causes the computer to: display theconfiguration changes identified within the database as possible causesof the detected error condition, wherein the configuration changes aredisplayed with identities of users who made the configuration changesand responses to any messages that were provided pursuant to theconfiguration changes.
 18. The program product of claim 14, where thepotential error condition, the configuration change, the selectedmessage, and the response stored in the log file within the databasecomprise a series of events leading up to the error condition and where,in causing the computer to store the potential error condition with theconfiguration change, the selected message and the response in the logfile within the database, the program code, when executed by thecomputer, causes the computer to create an error object within thedatabase that maps the error condition to the series of events leadingup to the error condition.
 19. A method for deploying an application fortracking computer system configuration changes with correspondingmessage responses, comprising: providing a computer infrastructure beingoperable to: monitor a plurality of computer systems for configurationchanges; detect initiation of a configuration change for a computersystem of the monitored plurality of computer systems; issue a messageselected from a database comprising a library of configuration changemessages for the plurality of computer systems based upon theconfiguration change in response to detecting the initiation of theconfiguration change, wherein the selected message warns of a potentialerror condition due to the configuration change being issued from thecomputer system and requires a response, wherein the response requireschoosing to accept the message or ignore the message, wherein acceptingthe message cancels the configuration change and ignoring the messageallows the configuration change; observe the response to the selectedmessage; store the configuration change with the selected message andthe response in a log file within the database; detect that an errorcondition with the computer system has occurred; query the database inresponse to detecting the error condition to determine configurationchanges identified within the database as possible causes of thedetected error condition; and determine whether the configuration changeis one of the determined configuration changes identified within thedatabase as possible causes of the detected error condition.
 20. Themethod of claim 19, wherein the computer infrastructure is furtheroperable to: store the potential error condition with the configurationchange, the selected message and the response in the log file within thedatabase.
 21. The method of claim 20, where the potential errorcondition, the configuration change, the selected message, and theresponse stored in the log file within the database comprise a series ofevents leading up to the error condition and where storing the potentialerror condition with the configuration change, the selected message andthe response in the log file within the database comprises creating anerror object within the database that maps the error condition to theseries of events leading up to the error condition.